quote:PG this is going no where with Scorekeeper.
rz1,
He wants data! (proof)
Geez, this site would be tough to keep up with if we had to provide data and proof everytime we post. Just call it my opinion and disagree. I am not trying to win an argument with anyone. I am not an expert at anything!Anyway, here's something to think about...
We run BCS Tournaments with Metal Bats.
We run WWBA Tournaments with Wood Bats.
A lot of the same Teams play in both!
Here are some of the scores in the 8 team BCS Finals with all high quality teams and pitching. 8-7, 10-8, 16-5, 11-2, 10-3, 8-7, 10-3, 7-6, and the Championship game was 10-9 Midland Redskins defeating East Cobb. In pool play (4 games each team)… Midland scored 27 runs, Savanah Chain 27 runs, East Cobb 35 runs, Richmond County 24 runs. ABD Bulldogs gave up 30 runs in 4 games, SW Florida gave up 31. The lowest runs allowed by any of the 8 teams was 16 or an average of 4 runs a game.
Then some of the same teams also played in the WWBA Championship (Wood Bats) East Cobb allowed 4 runs in 5 games, Midland allowed 3 runs in 5 games, the Florida Bombers allowed 2 runs in 5 games. Anyway, overall just less offense with the Wood Bats!
Without spending days or even weeks adding it all up, we just know there is a lot more offensive production and scoring with the Metal Bat. (Not even close but a lot more) More hits, more home runs, more runs scored, more of everything. We also know the games last longer with metal! Just using common sense, I took it for granted that also includes more balls hit hard down both lines, over the fence, in the gaps and up the middle. No I don’t have the exact data. Lets just call it my opinion for now. Heck, maybe I'm wrong!
One can follow the offensive production in the summer collegiate wood bat leagues to get a good idea.
Regarding insurance companies… The odds of any pitcher getting killed is astronomical, so they have no reason to up the rates, if they in fact haven’t upped the rates. But did they lower the rates when the NCAA implemented bat restrictions a few years ago? Obviously someone (the NCAA) was concerned about safety and turning the game into a farce. In 1998 Southern Cal beat Arizona State 21-14 (Baseball not Football) and balls were flying out of the park on checked swings. It wasn’t the insurance companies who caused the restrictions.
I have no way of proving it, but balls actually hitting pitchers, not necessarily in the head, is going to happen more often with metal than wood. I had a son who pitched, so does rz1 and many others who post here. Justbaseball had a son get seriously injured by a ball hit with a wooden bat. They are both dangerous, but I like the "odds" of staying healthy a lot better with wood. I like it when not so many balls are hit hard!
Guess someone could check back 30 some years ago and see if college hitting statistics increased from wood to metal. Those statistics are probably available somewhere. If hitting production increases, so does the danger to the pitcher! The heck with exit speed, I AM talking simple math!
I’m getting the idea that “scorekeeper” just likes to debate. (Argue) He brings up some good points, but it’s hard to keep up with him. I get the feeling that if you said the sky was blue, he’d debate that. I have a very good friend just like that. Whatever someone says, he takes the opposite side and there’s an argument. He lives for that! It's harmless!